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In recent years, there have been some remarkable advances in the treatment of bipolar disorder and, specifically, in the treatment of acute mania, stated Terence A. Ketter, M.D. Effective acute mania treatment is particularly important because mania causes many of the social and external difficulties that patients with bipolar disorder experience. The irritability, impulsivity, risk taking, and poor judgment that accompany manic episodes often bring these patients into conflict with work supervisors, other authorities, and families causing disruption and other problems in the lives of both the patients and the people around them. It is therefore imperative to find treatments that will successfully bring patients having acute manic episodes to recovery.